For the majority of the job seekers in Dubai, an agent or intermediary is sought. Huge pools of foreign labor are formed and farmed out to the business fueled by hyper-active growth. For non-skilled labor, room, board and transportation is provided. But it’s not easy.

A typical commute is two or more hours, housing can make military barracks look like luxury accommodations, and training is merely a series of negative reinforcement… a list of "don’t do this or else." As a result, foreign labor merely "mans the deck," but provides no real customer service.

All that said, it’s still no excuse to discriminate against the poor, the struggling and the hopeful. Many foreign laborers exhausted from four hours of commuting a day opt to have a housing allowance versus living in company accommodations.

With an annual salary of roughly twice the monthly rent of many Dubai apartments or villas, there’s an incentive for laborers to pool their money, rent a villa and segment it to accommodate as many as 25 people. The savings is then taken to Western Union and wired back to their home country.

Optimal? Nope. Practical? You bet. Legal? Not any more. Villa sharing has now been declared illegal. Why? Well, there are many opinions and nary an official statement from the government other than "it’s the law." My personal opinion is this: Landlords have been shirking their responsibilities. Bed bugs and other pests are rampant, noise increased, and the genteel neighbors got disgusted with the shantytown appearance.

But, to declare villa sharing as illegal? This only has a detrimental effect on those who collectively form the backbone of the Dubai economy. It's an effective tax on those who can least afford it.

Hold the landlords accountable for the maintenance and general upkeep of their properties -- certainly -- but for the love of goodness, don’t penalize the ingenuity and sacrifice of those who are responsible for doing their best to service those who can afford it… however miserable it may be.